How To Take Your Business To The Next Level With Content Marketing

By Emily St John - 02 Sep 2018

If you’re an entrepreneur running your own business, chances are you’ve heard all about content marketing and why you should be incorporating it into your advertising strategy.

It’s no joke—content marketing is a critical part of every marketing strategy, as it can help you build authentic relationships with your customers and grow an audience in a meaningful way.

In today’s world, people are increasingly responding to more personal, authentic connections with the stories and people involved in brands, rather than products themselves. But, if you haven’t been a part of the movement so far, content marketing can seem intimidating and downright inaccessible—we mean, who has the time?!

That's why we at The Urban List have brought you a super simple guide to navigating the world of content marketing, and we know that ANZ knows small business. So much so, they’ve just released their brand new ANZ BladePay™ device which together with the right POS vendor app can help hospitality businesses offer a seamless service, from customer orders to quick and easy payments straight to your POS system.

Looking to take your small business to the next level in more ways than one? Check out the ANZ BladePay™ features.

Find Your Niche

With over 4.75 billion pieces of content shared daily, in order for your brand’s content to stand out, you need to think of innovative ways to not only provide potential customers with value but also tell your brand’s story in an engaging and interesting way.

Take the time to research the content that your audience is already consuming (either from your competitors or their peers), and find any gaps you can fill with interesting content.

The Urban List Pro Tip: Look for potential adjacencies. For example, if you’re a cafe that specialises in Saturday brunch, your customers are also likely to be on the hunt for post-breakfast activity inspiration. Create a blog and publish an article about the best beachside walks in your area while promoting your cafe as the best pre-walk brunch stop.

Focus On Educating, Informing And Entertaining

What problems are your audience currently experiencing and how can you help solve these in a fun, informative and entertaining way? Your content should be creating an experience at the intersection of useful and delightful, and you should be focused on the needs and pain points of your customers first. The goal is to build a loyal audience and then leverage that loyalty to drive a business goal.

The Urban List Pro Tip: Your content should give people an action to take. Not only will this extend the interaction with your brand, but it will also make your content much more impactful by making the interaction two-way. The action doesn’t need to be complex, you could simply create a social post which states the weather forecast for the day and encourages your audience to get outside with their friends. This will help keep your business top-of-mind during your audience’s day-to-day lives.

Make An Authentic Connection With Your Audience

If you want to connect with your audience in a meaningful way, you need to be an authentic member of that community. The word “authenticity” is often thrown around in our industry, but it’s important that your brand really hones into its audience to understand what people want. Brands that are audience-centric—aka human-centric—that are focused on creating value for people are winning in content marketing.

The Urban List Pro Tip: Customers don’t connect with products or services, they connect with a brand’s values. It’s not what you do, it’s why you do it. What do your customers care about? What makes them tick? Create content that helps them tell their story.

Capitalise On Cultural Moments And Trends

Gone are the days of disrupting conversation, now businesses must be a (valuable) part of it. Businesses need to actively insert themselves into culturally relevant moments (like movie releases, sporting events, local news and weather), capitalising on moments that matter to their audience. Those small windows of time where people are collectively tuned in and socially active offer an environment made for meaningful connections.

The Urban List Pro Tip: Choose moments that celebrate the values your brand stands for and add to that moment. How can you make your audience feel like they’re getting something out of this interaction, that they weren’t getting from the rest of the conversation happening online?

So, How Does This All Drive Real Business Results?

The key to getting the highest possible ROI from content marketing comes from deploying it in the right places at the right times and for the right reasons—tying everything back to your overall business goals. For example, blog traffic drives more traffic to your website and improves the SEO ranking of your business, while newsletter subscriber opt-ins can build your email database.

This article is proudly sponsored by ANZ and written and endorsed by The Urban List. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who make The Urban List possible. To find out more about who we work with and why, check out our editorial policy here.

Disclaimer: Eligibility criteria, terms and conditions, fees and charges apply to ANZ BladePay™ and third party apps developed by POS vendors. Use and potential benefits of ANZ BladePay™ require an app built by a POS vendor with appropriate functionality. ANZ is not responsible for apps developed by third parties.

The information contained in this article is general in nature and has not been prepared or endorsed by ANZ. It does not take into account your personal and business needs, financial circumstances or particular objectives, and is not a substitute for commercial judgement or professional advice. You should seek independent financial, legal, tax and other relevant advice having regard to your particular circumstances.

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